New gTLD Program Under Threat: Nearly 500 Domains Find Owners
Namespace, a New York-based domain registrar, has claimed 482 top-level domains. According to the company, ICANN cannot register these domains at the request of other applicants.
Namespace has rights to domains such as .SHOP, .HOTEL, .NYC, .SEX, .GREEN, and several others. A full list of domain names can be foundin this PDF file.
Namespace representatives say they have applied to ICANN under the New gTLD program, but only for some domains, with the rest already being owned by the company.
The reason Namespace raised concerns is as follows. Back in 1996, the company launched an alternative root zone with its own domain name system. Multiple top-level domains could be registered within this domain zone.
At the same time, lawyers note that Namespace's rights are well-founded, and its recent announcement could pose a serious threat to the New gTLD program.
The fact is that back in 2000, ICANN launched the process of adding new top-level domains to the DNS. At the same time, ICANN began accepting applications for new domains. At this time, domain zones such as BIZ, INFO, NAME, and MUSEUM were created. However, the organization received a huge number of applications for other domains, and only a few were approved.
ICANN's response to applicants was not a definitive rejection. Furthermore, ICANN did not formally announce the end of the application period. This means that applicants who applied for domain registrations with ICANN in 2000 and later have priority over those applying now.
Namespace submitted 118 applications back then, but the company never received a rejection. Therefore, it believes that all the domains it applied for in 2000 should belong to it.
The fact is that Namespace isn't alone in its claims. Another company, Image Online Design, the owner of an alternative DNS, also applied for the .web domain in 2000 and believes it should own the domain.
Furthermore, according to ICANN rules, companies that applied back in 2000 are entitled to a discount on the new domain of $86,000. This is significant considering that the application fee under the New gTLD program is $185,000.
